The village chief held a yellowed old piece of paper covered with crooked writing and addressed the villagers.
"The fact that you can think of these problems shows that the people in our village are very smart, but we do need to plan carefully."
This is also one of the topics of our village meeting today. What I have here is my general plan, but the final decision will require a vote by everyone.
"Village chief, tell me your plan!"
The village chief slowly opened the plan in his hand.
This plan was something he and Su Luo had discussed carefully, and the village elders also had a general idea of it, so they had no objections.
The village chief was not tall and was thin, but standing in front of everyone, he was calm and composed, like a great leader.
Before I talk about this plan, let me tell you about the general process of making soy sauce. First, we need to prepare a soy sauce vat, which should be larger than a water vat.
Soy sauce must be sun-dried, so we have to set up this drying yard ourselves..."
The village chief answered the villagers' questions while explaining, and it took two incense sticks to burn before the villagers finally understood.
Wang Tiezhu's father stood up and said, "Village chief, what you mean is that our whole village should work together to make this soy sauce, and every household should get a share."
As for the distribution of profits, it is calculated according to the amount of silver we invested. For example, there are more than 100 households in Changping Village making soy sauce together.
The more money I invest, the higher the return; the less money he invests, the lower the return.
"Village chief, am I understanding this correctly?"
There were some villagers who didn't quite understand, but after hearing what Tie Zhu's father said, they all understood instantly.
“That’s right, Tiezhu’s father, you’re absolutely right.”
The village chief smiled and looked at everyone, but they all lowered their heads and remained silent.
No one has any complaints about contributing labor, but as for contributing money, even if their entire family contributed all their money, it probably wouldn't be enough to make soy sauce for the whole village.
Putting everything else aside, a vat bigger than a water tank is not cheap, and the village chief even said he wanted a thick vat that a person could stand on the rim of.
So, it would cost more than one tael of silver to buy a jar, and a lot of salt would also be needed, which is very precious.
Without money, no matter how well the village chief and Su Luo talked, they probably couldn't make the soy sauce.
"Village chief, you just said to tell everyone to put silver in, but how much silver is needed?"
The village chief glanced at Su Luo and said, "The people in our village can make their own drying ground. We'll use the wasteland to the right of Chen Dazhi's house."
We built the walls around the drying ground with adobe bricks, which we could also make ourselves, saving us money.
The biggest expense is buying soy sauce vats. The soy sauce needs to be stirred every day, and people have to stand on the edge of the vat to stir it. The quality must be good. The whole village makes it, so there must be at least a hundred large vats.
At the very least, a jar costs one tael of silver, and with the jar cap, it would cost over a hundred taels.
Then there are soybeans. One vat can hold eighty catties of soybeans, and one hundred vats would hold eight thousand catties. At ten coins per catty, it would take eighty taels.
Large quantities of salt would be even more expensive, so Su Luo and I estimate we'll need three hundred taels..."
Three hundred taels of silver—everyone was astonished by this number. It would take selling all the fields in Changping Village to make that much.
"Village chief, you need so much silver, but we don't have any."
"Yes, our whole village combined doesn't even have three hundred taels."
The village chief also knew that there was too much silver. He and Chen Ping'an had made several dozen taels of silver from selling eggplants this year, which he originally intended to save for his grandson's schooling next year.
If we take everything out, I don't know if it will be enough.
"Village chief, please don't panic."
Su Luo stood up and said, "You've forgotten, I'm also a member of Changping Village. I was the one who suggested making soy sauce, so of course I want to do it with you."
Let's all pool this money together first. I'll make up for any shortfall later.
Of course, let me make this clear upfront: if I contribute the most silver, I will receive the most silver in the distribution.
So that's all for today's meeting. If you're willing to join us in making soy sauce, get your money ready.
We have no limits; ten coins is fine. Once we've established our soy sauce business, we'll need to ask hundreds of households for their opinions before anyone else can join.
That won't be so easy. Everyone should think it through carefully, as this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In my opinion, it would be best if you could take as much of a share as possible, even just a little.
If anyone has soybeans at home, they can use them to exchange for a larger quantity, since we need a lot of soybeans anyway.
After Su Luo finished speaking, she said that this matter was entirely voluntary. If the villagers contributed less money, she would contribute more. She would not let herself lose money.
"Alright, with Su Luo here, you can rest assured. The more money you contribute, the greater the return. Go back and discuss it with your families."
If there are results, you can give me the money. As the village chief, I am someone everyone trusts.
No matter what, our village must unite. Only when our hearts are united can we have a better life.
It's December now, so everyone needs to think things through within three days. Once I've finalized the order for the soy sauce vats and the venue is ready, we can have a good New Year.
Better days await us in the future. That's all for today, everyone can go home now.
As everyone left, the crowd thronged together, discussing the matter incessantly.
However, the most talked-about topic was Su Luo's joining the village. Su Luo was the richest and most knowledgeable person in the village.
This will build trust with everyone, and they can prepare the money as soon as they get back.
...
At night, Su Luo entered the space, where she had picked almost all the cotton.
In addition to making cotton-padded clothes for them, Zhao Ruyun also made twelve quilts.
Now, their homes are warm at night even in winter.
This space used to hold many things, even the wheelchair that he used to use for farming is still here.
However, Su Luo doesn't need them now. Artillery, guns, fog grenades, and the like were essential for survival in her previous life.
But there's no need for that now, so Su Luo can only try her best not to touch them.
The cotton harvest is finished, but the tree trunks are still in the space. She needs to pull them all up and then take them out to burn.
For some reason, Su Luo still wanted to plant dryland rice on half an acre of land.
It's as if there's no sense of security without food in the space.
For a fleeting moment, Su Luo chuckled to herself, realizing she had truly been influenced by Zhao Ruyun; she was actually worried about running out of food.
After pulling for a while, Su Luo finally cleaned up the ground and, under the cover of night, took it to the village entrance to burn.
It burned for two nights before it was completely burned.
These past two days, I've been soaking the dry rice in the space again, and I'll plant some grain whenever I have free time.
There is still war between Nanning and Beiliang, and no one can guarantee that they can remain peaceful forever.
If that day really comes, even with money, you won't be able to buy food.
However, in these three days, Changping Village has undergone great changes.
Everyone sold everything they could at home, like chickens, ducks, and fish, and asked Su Luo to help them sell it all at Fu Man Lou.
Su Luo will also offer them the best price in the entire county.
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